Where to apply? What MCAT score?

[DocsRocks21]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on where to apply next cycle. I applied once in 2014 and the only acceptance I got was from St. Georges in Dominican Republic. I was waitlisted at Lecom-Erie. My stats were 3.4 uGPA, 3.5 sGPA, 24 MCAT.

I am currently a student at SUNY Upstate Medical School- College of Graduate Studies getting a Masters in Pharmacology. My first semester gpa was a 3.5. My lab is very intense and I work 8-12 hours a day in it. That makes it very difficult to study for my MCAT which I have planned to retake on 1/23/2016 but am worried I am not ready still. I took it on 9/21 but had to void it since I was very sick and had to end two of the sections early in order to not puke in the room. Every school I talked to told me it was just the mcat holding me back but it really sucks because I thought I would have more time to study but instead my P.I. wants me in lab everyday (I was even there for 7 hours on christmas eve ) any SDN'ers have any advice on where to apply? I just really want to get into a US Medical school.

I put a space by the ones that had semi-good news. Please provide any help!!!! I am thinking of applying to most of the same DO ones and LMU-DCOM, ACOM, PCOM-Ga, ATSU-soma, LECOM-Bradenton, and any others you SDN'ers suggest

Last year when I applied here was my list:

MD schools:
Albany Med
Hofstra
New York Medical
Quinnipiac Med
SUNY Upstate
The Commonwealth
University of Rochester
West Virginia
(All of which I got secondaries then rejected from) I am a NY resident and went out on a limb applying to these schools
DO schools:
Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University, AZ (got secondary then rejected)
Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine, NC (secondary then rejected)
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Virginia Campus, VA (secondary then rejected)
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, (rejected)

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie/Seton Hill, PA (Interviewed-Waitlisted-Never got off the Waitlist)

Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine, VA (got ii late, interviewed, rejected)

Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, MI (secondary then rejected)
NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, NY (secondary then rejected)
Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, OH (secondary then rejected)
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, PA (secondary submitted still waiting to hear a decision)
Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, NJ (secondary submitted still waiting to hear a decision)
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York, NY (secondary submitted still waiting to hear a decision)
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, ME (secondary then rejected)

University of Pikeville- Kentucky (II but it was the same day as LECOM's so I had to decline it, they both had no other dates open)

West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, WV (deferred decision)

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[DocsRocks21]

Also wanted to know what MCAT score I should be trying to get to get in one of these schools. SUNY Upstate said a 509 is good for them but is it lower for a DO school?

 

[ToKingdomCome]

For DO, you'll be more than fine with a 28 (not sure what that is on the old scale). Just do as best as you can and aim as high as possible

 

[adrian710]

Don't think it's worth applying to MD with a sub 28 MCAT. Surprised you went on and did, that was a waste of cash and time. Honestly if you apply super early and even more broadly, you could squeeze an acceptance with current stats. Maybe best interest is to take MCAT again and score 26+ and you'll get in somewhere for sure. How are ur EC's? Do you have a DO LoR?

 

[NuckyThompson]

firstly, I think you should also apply to A.T. Still (campus in Missouri and Arizona) its the first D.O. school to exist, and they seem to be mega holistic.

 

[adrian710]

firstly, I think you should also apply to A.T. Still (campus in Missouri and Arizona) its the first D.O. school to exist, and they seem to be mega holistic.

With OP's MCAT, last place should apply is more established schools. Needs to apply to ALL newer schools lower tier then look into other older and upper tier schools.

 

[adrian710]

Also wanted to know what MCAT score I should be trying to get to get in one of these schools. SUNY Upstate said a 509 is good for them but is it lower for a DO school?

MCAT should be minimum 500 for DO. Apply MD if you hit 510. With your GPA I wouldn't be thinking about MD schools honestly. Improve MCAT substantially and apply DO.

 

[PSiloveU2013]

MCAT should be minimum 500 for DO. Apply MD if you hit 510. With your GPA I wouldn't be thinking about MD schools honestly. Improve MCAT substantially and apply DO.

Not true. 3.4/3.5 is acceptable for at least MD state schools, granted that OP scores decently next time on the MCAT (I know you said this, but then you immediately retracted and said only apply DO).

@DocsRocks21 - I would postpone your MCAT until you really have time to study and feel prepared for it. I took mine in January for this app season as I felt like postponing it until April-June would be too late. In retrospect it would not have been late at all. I think even July would be fine if you have school/lab/other commitments until the summer. You should be reviewing the material and then give yourself ~2-2.5 months of dedicated studying; i.e., practice questions, timed sections and exams, time to review incorrect answers, days to take a break! Oh- and time to review/revise your test taking strategies. While the MCAT does require a solid knowledge base, it's just as important to learn how to take the test. This worked well for me, I got a 30 on my MCAT. Btw I got accepted at my state MD with a 3.5 and 3.3 sgpa- along with another MD interview/wait list, 6 DO interviews - attended 4, got accepted at 4. So you definitely still have a chance at med school, just work hard to fix that MCAT score

 

[NoTownPreMed]

Glad you held out and didn't end up going to the Caribbean.

 

[Goro]

As you already know, your MCAT score is lethal for any MD school. Do NOT take re-take a career-deciding, high stakes exam until you are 100% ready. You are going to have to learn to manage your time more efficient; medical schools expect you to walk and chew gum at the same time.


Here is a list (kudos to user3 for compiling) of the current stats for matriculants at the DO schools. The bolded #s are LizzyM scores, which I did as an intellectual exercise for comparisons to low-tier MD schools.

Your best bet as of right now is with the newest schools. I can't recommend LUCOM.


Touro-Ca: 3.50/3.45/30.8 (2015) 65.8
CCOM: 3.64/3.57/29.4 (2015) 65.5
RVU: 3.63/3.60/28.54 (2015) 64.8
DMU: 3.63/3.57/28.3 64.6
UNTHSC-TCOM: 3.67/3.57/28 (2015) 64.3
MSU: 3.64/28 (2015) 64.4
NYIT: 3.6/28 64.4
COMP: 3.58/3.56/28 63.8
AZCOM: 3.48/3.44/29 63.8
UNECOM: 3.55/28 63.5
RowanSOM: 3.54/3.48/28
LECOM-B: 3.53/3.45/28
Touro-NV: 3.5/3.4/28
NSU: 3.49/3.40/28 (2013)
KCUMB: 3.63/3.6/27.6
Marian: 3.62/3.56/27.53 (2015)
OU-HCOM: 3.64/3.58/27.37
PNWU: 3.46/3.37/27.29 (2015)
CUSOM: 3.6/3.5/27
KCOM: 3.59/3.51/27
PCOM: 3.5/3.5/27 (?)
LECOM-E/SH: 3.48/3.35/27 (2013)
SOMA: 3.45/3.34/27
PCOM-Ga: 3.4/3.5/27 (?)
COMP-NW: 3.63/3.58/26.28
OSU-COM: 3.66/26
WCU: 3.5/3.4/26 (2013)
ACOM: 3.4/26 (2013)
VCOM (all): 3.6/3.5/25.36
LMU: 3.43/3.35/25-26
WVSOM: 3.4/3.4/25 (2013)
KYCOM: 3.50/3.41/24.6
LUCOM: 3.4/24
Touro-NY: ?
Burrell COM: ?

 

[DocsRocks21]

Thanks for the replies. I have plenty of extra curricular's. I worked in a CTICU as a PCT for the past 4 years and have over 2000 hours of patient experience. I also have 100+ hours of shadowing along with at least half of that with a D.O. in the ED (which is what I hope to go into). He wrote me a letter of recommendation for all my schools. I applied to the MD schools even though I knew it was a waste of money because my dad is a MD who went to Upstate Medical and me applying to DO schools was the first he really even knew about DOs, he works with all MDs as a surgeon in a private practice. He knows better now after he saw how much we shelled out on applications and secondaries. I am trying my best to study for the MCAT and hope to score somewhere near 510 to be safe for a DO school. Thanks for the replies and any other information or ideas of schools to apply to are appreciated